Transformation
by JMProfio
Summary: Bobby buys a CD and realizes that for some reason Andy really doesn't like it. Just a little blip written because of a coincidence I noticed in the tracklist for The World Ends With You.
**[Author's Note: So I used to have the extended OST for _TWEWY_ on my laptop, and let me just start by saying it's awesome. You can listen to most of it on Youtube. But anyways, I was transferring my music to a new laptop, and the track names didn't transfer, so I went to look up a tracklist, and found out that one of the singers credited on the extended tracks is named Andy Mitchell. This is the result of that coincidence.]**

Bobby never thought buying a CD would bring so much amusement to his life.

He hadn't bought it with any intention of annoying Andy—the last few years the two hadn't been half as combative as before, due mostly to certain circumstances involving a war for the sake of the universe and a subsequent reset of their lives over the ensuing years. What had evolved instead was the awkward half-friends, half-dating limbo resembling how Bobby had been with Courtney during the war. Only Andy was _definitely_ not Courtney, for a number of reasons. And now, as Bobby watched the other teen's face turn into a scowl, he couldn't help but smile a little.

They had been driving for about twenty minutes, headed to a convention to celebrate their last spring break before graduating high school, when Bobby put on the CD. He'd found it at a yard sale, dumped next to a pile of old video games and systems, and had recognized the artwork immediately. It was an extended soundtrack, for _The World Ends With You._ He hadn't played the game much, but what he had played he had definitely enjoyed, mostly due to the high energy soundtrack. He'd bought the CD—which seemed to be one of the Japanese releases, if the kanji on the cover was any indication—and Mark had been nice enough to find an English tracklist online and copy down the song titles and artists onto a card for him. The card was tucked into the front of the case, for when Bobby decided to rip the disc onto his iTunes, but for now he'd decided it wasn't important.

"What is this," Andy asked, in a calm voice which suggested he knew _exactly_ what he was listening to, and was not happy about it.

Bobby shrugged. "It's just a soundtrack. I got it at a yard sale and thought it'd be good for the trip."

"No, it's not. Turn it off. Now." The ex-demon grit his teeth together, gripping the steering wheel just a little tighter than was necessary as he spoke.

"Dude, it's just a CD-"

"I don't care. I don't want to hear anything from that game."

"Why?"

The gruff teen was silent, staring straight ahead with a very intense glare plastered across his features.

Curiosity peaked, Bobby looked at the case in his hand. It didn't seem like the kind of thing that would make Andy so upset, and yet something about it had definitely set him off. It was just a regular-looking game, with an anime-esque design and a soundtrack made up of J-Pop and J-Rock. Maybe it reminded him of something? Bobby grinned.

"If you don't tell me why it bugs you," he said. "I'm gonna keep playing it."

Andy's glare intensified. "I swear, Pendragon, if you don't drop it I will break that CD over your head."

He was pissed. This was _hilarious_.

"C'mon," the ex-Traveler teased. "It can't be that bad."

"No. Suffice it to say it reminds me of something I'd rather forget."

"Okay. Looks like we're listening to it."

"Fine," Andy grumbled. "We'll listen to your stupid J-Pop."

They settled into silence for a while, the music echoing through the car. They skipped a few tracks, mostly the instrumental ones or remixes of the main songs, and after some time had passed Bobby just set the player to play at random. A loud guitar riff filled the car for approximately two seconds, then Andy reached out and pressed the next button so quickly that he almost lost control of the car. The vehicle swerved sharply, and Bobby grabbed the handle of his door tightly as the other drivers on the road leaned on their horns.

"What was _that_?" he exclaimed.

"Nothing," Andy responded. "I just didn't want to hear that song."

"You nearly _rolled the car_. How bad can it be?"

"It's..." he stopped, gripping the wheel tightly. "I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

The hilarity of the situation was starting to wear off, and Bobby was still slightly shaken from the near-crash a minute ago. "Okay, I'll stop prying. Just... don't do that again, alright? You scared the hell out of me."

Andy was still staring straight ahead, his expression less irritated and more pensive. "Sure. Sorry."

Bobby cast a concerned glance at his companion. "You okay?"

"...Fine."

They drifted back into silence, and Bobby looked back down at the CD case, pondering to himself what had been on that track that had shaken Andy so much. The guy had traveled across time and space, used to _literally_ shapeshift, and nearly died; why did he get so bothered by some music? Clicking open the case, Bobby pulled out the tracklist that Mark had made for him and started scanning over the names. Maybe there was something he could glean from the artists or song titles that he...

His eyes stopped abruptly near the bottom of the list, and he felt himself smiling slightly at what he saw. Mark had actually circled and underlined it, with a few exclamation points next to it and a couple question marks to boot. The message was clear: _Can you believe this?_ The song title was "Transformation". And the artist...

Bobby stifled a laugh, glancing over at his companion. "Hey, Andy?"

"Yeah?"

"Were you in a band?"

The expression on Andy's face was, in a word, priceless. It was a confused mixture of shock, anger, and embarrassment, and there was a light tint spreading over his cheeks.

"Are you _blushing_?" Bobby asked, trying as hard as he possibly could not to laugh at the spectacle in front of him.

" _No._ "

"Well, now you _have_ to tell me."

Andy sighed, gripping the wheel tightly and looking pointedly away from the smaller teen as he responded. "I... might have... been in a band. For a while. When I was first getting the hang of shapeshifting. It was stupid, and we're not going to talk about it any more."

"Can I listen to the song?"

" _No."_

"Please?"

" _ **No.**_ "

Bobby smiled and dropped the subject, looking out the window and making a note to _definitely_ listen to it later.


End file.
